Called by Name to God's Love in Jesus

Dear Members and Friends of St. John,

 

On Saturday, May 4, my wife, Kathy, and I attended one of the annual rites of spring in Palmer.  We watched 5 grandchildren participate in the opening ceremonies for the Palmer Little League.  I’m not sure how many kids were present, decked out in their uniforms, but there were a lot!  I believe I was told in 2018 that there were about 450 children playing Little League baseball in Palmer.  If there were that many children this year, with parents, grandparents, and siblings also present, then well over 1000 people attended the ceremonies last Saturday.

 

A unique feature of opening day ceremonies for Little League every year is that, as the teams are introduced and take their place on the field, each child who is registered has their name called out over the loud speaker.  Imagine that, calling out 450 or so names!  That is more than a high school graduation in our area.  But, as I have observed Little League baseball in our community, this is all about the children.  The goals of Little League baseball are that children learn teamwork, learn sportsmanship, skills, and the ability to face adversity and to grow and improve as a player and a person.  Those are high ideals. But, the children are important. So, we stood in the crowd as child after child had their name spoken over the loud speaker.  (By the way, I like the Little League Pledge which states, “I trust in God. I love my country and will respect its laws. I will play fair and strive to win. But win or lose I will always do my best.”)

 

From a happy event of name reading on Saturday, I read about a sad instance of reading names in the Anchorage Daily News from Sunday, May 5.  The paper reported that on Saturday, May 4, in a ceremony sponsored by the Southcentral Foundation at the Alaska Native Heritage Foundation, there was a reading of the names of 191 Alaska Native Women who have gone missing or been murdered.  According to the article, the list of names was 5 pages long.  This reading is intended to foster healing from the grief of loss.  These women are still remembered and missed by families and friends.  Even if these women have gone missing they are still important, every one of them.  So, their names were read aloud in this ceremony on May 4.

 

Then on Tuesday evening I was listening to a sports and music show on Big Cabbage Radio.  (I know the show’s radio host!)  I heard more names read, this time on the radio.  The American Legion baseball team for our community, the Palmer Pioneers, has been chosen for 2019.  The names of all those players chosen for the team were read aloud on the radio.  It is an honor and accomplishment to make a team.  And, a team needs the contributions of each member.  So the names of these players were read aloud on the radio.

 

It has long been a source of comfort and strength for the people of God to know that our Lord knows us personally, even by name.  I often hear the words of Isaiah 49 spoken when talking about God’s personal love.  Isaiah writes, “Listen to me, you islands; hear this, you distant nations: Before I was born the LORD called me; from my birth he has made mention of my name.” (Isaiah 49:1)  While this verse is a prophecy of the coming Messiah, it also teaches about God’s personal love for each of us. 

 

All of Psalm 139 shares about God’s personal knowledge and love for His people, but, verses 13 and 14 are most well-known.  “13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” (Psalm 139:13-14)  We are not nameless beings walking the planet.  Each of us is individually known and loved by our Creator and Savior. We are known from conception by God Himself.

 

In the New Testament, Peter reminds the dispersed Christians how they have received God’s individual and personal love as they have come to faith and received the blessings of his covenant, His promises, in Jesus.  Listen to 1 Peter 2:9-10.  “9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”  Think of that.  To our world we might seem like nobodies.  To God we are His chosen and saved people with a purpose for life!

 

At St. John we have been rejoicing at a concrete way in which God is showing His personal love in our midst.  On March 31 we heard the name of Myra Marie Thomas spoken, as God called her in baptism, as He forgave her sins and gave her the gift of the Holy Spirit, promising His personal love.  On April 14 Freya Ann Kopperud was called as a child of God in baptism.  On Mothers’ Day, May 12, God will keep His promises of personal love for Elizabeth Mary Morey, Zephaniah Alexander Horman, Brooks Jackson Morey, Elias Tucker Morey, and Wrangell Colton Lee Morey.  (By the way, Elizabeth is the mom!) God will also speak His personal love on June 9 for Jessie Ann Ford and for Mallory Ann Ford, and on June 23 for Sadie Rae Psenak.  Do you hear those names?  God knows each of these people personally.  He knows them in mind, body, and soul. Our Lord knows they need a Savior.  So, in baptism they are called by God to His saving love in Jesus. In baptism they die with Jesus as their sins are washed away, and rise with Jesus to new life, as God acts in power and personal love.

 

Do you know God’s personal love from your baptism?  Have your children or grandchildren received God’s personal saving love in their baptisms? 

 

There are so many people in our world, and it can seem that the large numbers tell us we are unimportant and nameless.  But God knows us by name from His powerful creating love.  God calls us by name in our baptisms to His saving love in Jesus.  In God’s eyes we are “a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”

 

A Child of God, Called by Name to God’s Love in Jesus,

Pastor Jonathan   

 

 

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ABOUT ‘THOUGHTS FROM THE PASTOR’ -   I am sending these e-mail messages, hopefully weekly, to all St. John members and friends whose e-mails I have.  (I am regularly adding new names of friends and members – in case you are just receiving this e-mail for the first time.)  However, if you do not want to receive this e-mail, please let me know, and I’ll gladly leave your name off my list for this message.

 

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